This weeks trend has been skin and flowers for those planning for AW 2019. The look is rich and the skins more abstract as we have been predicting.
art
Serpents for Spring Summer
Snakes are not slithering away for Spring Summer 2019 but morphing into a softer more pastel palette. The reptile is shedding its skin to a looser and more abstract interpretation, with mirrored stripes, swirls and collages of serpentine elements.
This look is elegant and very wearable and can be worn both casually or as a statement print.
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Status Scarf Prints
They are back, the BCBG (bon chic, bon genre) look so popular in France in the 1990s and still going strong with the aspiring upper middle class. With a few choice items such as a touch of Hermes or Gucci mixed with Burberry, leather gloves, velvet Alice bands, Guerlain perfume and bauble jewelry, these combined are clear indicators of impeccable taste.
Photo Daily Mail, Photo Getty Images
Photo pets4homes, 9A495 001
We have had the tarty Versace, but now my friends we are moving upmarket to the more established looks of Gucci, Hermes, Burberry and the likes. Older fashion houses with better pedigree, simple but recognizable designs well suited to the country set, hunter wellies, ponies and the general whiff of damp labs and retrievers. Feast your eyes on the selection from Sublitex.
Vintage Agatha Paris baubles
Photo vintage Vanity Fair
However this may be the origin of the look but the high street will may this trendy, adding new coloursand twists to move this firmly back into the city. One way is taking the more nautical twist that suggests cruises not just the local yachting club. The inclusion of soft flowers amongst the chains and bridles suggests pumps over stout shoes.
Photo – Hunter
Photo Rachel Pally
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Robert Vernet at The London Print Design Fair
Sarah Glyn-Woods of Design and Colour Ltd and Karl Grobelny from Creation Robert Vernet
Sometimes it is important to say things as they are….it is very quiet in the world of printed textiles, clothing manufacture and retail sales. It was therefore no surprise that the Fair was quieter than usual. There were some stunning designs on offer from our friends at Vernet as there were from other studios and sellers of vintage archives.
Just to be totally uncommercial for a moment, what would we do without the wonderful array of vintage garments when foot traffic is slow. There were things that I had worn in the past and even certain items that I have kept and are in suitcases in the loft. There were interesting characters posing in some outrageously wonderful outfits, so thanks for cheering us up and you know who you are!
Recently a friend borrowed a 1970s knitted kaftan to go to a party and my other half pointed her out to my son at the bus stop saying ”well that ‘s a throw back to the past”. He failed to notice it was our friend or that it was one of my many cherished garments that he thinks I should part with.
Flowers were very much in evidence, as usual, but they were more painterly and some had a vintage cut out feel.Finally the photograph flowers appears to have faded away with the limited exception of some occasional wear seekers.
We had much interest in medium sized and smaller florals with a vintage feel but overall they needed to be very pretty.
Patchworks were popular; squared, diagonal or scarf prints from monochromatic to fresh multi coloured. The most popular flower for me was the poppy which appeared to have sneaked into most floral bouquets or be standing boldly in the forefront. The mixing of the poppy with other flowers and the looser shapes and variegated colour and texture moved the bloom safely away from the flower of remembrance day.
Laura Newton from Blueye Design and Kate Lerigoleur from CRV
Tie dyes a la Dior muted palette or in these playful bright colours were also very popular.
These were WGSN’s picks from Robert Vernet:
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Shrimps X Habitat
Pretty yet cool, Shrimps stand alone in the fashion world with a distinctive handwriting. Celebrated for their expressive prints, the brand have decided to collaborated with homeware brand Habitat to showcase their illustrative hand on home products.
With a colour pallet of baby pinks, cornflower blues and contrasting monos, this collection feels stylish and contemporary. Fabrics reflect the quality of both brands with short pile velvets and rich cottons and elaborate coloured fur.
“Breton stripe faux fur throws are draped on painterly print bedding, layered alongside embroidered cushions and hand crafted rugs.” Hannah Weiland; Creative Director of Shrimps
Crazy creatures and twisted fairytales, the collection is certainly out of the ordinary. We love the contrast of a pretty, feminine colour palette with bold and some what ugly designs, a really exciting new take on interiors for Habitat.
https://www.habitat.co.uk/shrimps
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Lisbon
Lisbon, the charming capital city of Portugal, is full of vibrancy and art on every corner. On a recent trip, I was captivated by all of the patterned buildings created out of tiles. Tiles have been the inspiration for many fashion prints such as the Dolce and Gabanna collection ‘I Love Maiolica’.
Dolce and Gabanna– I love Maiolica
Here is a look at some of the lovely pattern I saw around the city
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Disties
I think that we are presuming that next summer will be as good as 2018 and that ladies will be picnicking in floaty dresses on the riverbanks.
We have been asked to source florals from crisp little disties to bolder botanicals, all with a vintage feel for next spring and it is all very romantic.
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‘An Adventure in Illustration’
Step into a world bursting with wondrous creatures and scenes from faraway places with Villa Nova’s first children’s focused collection…..
Created in Collaboration with three renowned picture book illustrators; Frann Preston-Gannon, Christopher Corrand Yuval Zommer. With their unique drawing styles, each illustrator has their own chapter containing a series of pictorial stories that introduce a world of adventure and imagination.
Left to right – Frann Preston-Gannon: ‘MonkeyTree’ Wallpaper, Christopher Corr: ‘New York’ Wall Mural, Yuval Zommer: ‘Flutterby’ Curtains
Picturebook has been themed to appeal to animal lovers, bold adventurers and those who are intrigued by the wildlife and bugs that live in the bottom of the garden.
Christopher Corr
A graduate of the Royal College of Art, Corr’swork is about joy, colourand a love of life. Chris creates astounding imagery of scenes from around the world, crazy complex cityscapes, working in gouache and painting on handmade papers as though he’s using a pen. 
Frann Preston-Gannon
With a unique style that is visually spectacular, Frann’s illustrations can be described as a digital collage that is created by layering textures and colour. An attention to detail and obsession to create overall surface interest which enhances each scene adding vibrancy to the subject matter. 
Yuval Zommer
Embark on a voyage of discovery observing the tiniest detail of the smallest life forms in the natural world with Yuval’s playful drawings. These beautiful and incredibly intricate illustrations are exciting with hand drawn elements and layering of pattern that simply invites curiosity.
Villa Nova (Furnishings, Wallcoverings& Accessories) is part of ROMO GROUP and the range is available worldwide through an extensive netwrkof selected interior designers and retail outlets.
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Dip dyed, Ombre or Tye Dye
Which ever direction you are heading these are the looks that we first covered in our May blog, so do revisit;
https://theprintaffair.com/2018/05/04/ombres/
This is now evolving and and below we have added clean pastels, denim friendly, khaki, brights through to mono marking. The variety of the trend seems certain to be universal, moving from a very soft feminine interpretation to something far more festival relevant for the hipster generation. Pleating would be the perfect compliment to many of the prints.
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Robert Vernet
Design and Colour are pleased to announce that they have taken on the agency of Creations Robert Vernet in the UK and will be launching their new collection at The London Print Design Fair in Islington.
The company was founded in 1957 and is based in Lyon, the French city renowned for silk weaving and being the historical centre of textiles in France. With a team of over 20 designers using both the latest digital technology yet still drawing on the importance of hand painted designs, Robert Vernet is recognized as a master of this craft. The company has been awarded the “Living Heritage Company ” label by the Ministry of Commerce for their excellence and expertise.
As many of us know in this industry our products have to be valued and it is through attention to detail in both manufacture and styling that this can be achieved. We all compete on a global stage and keeping ahead of colour trends and delivering fresh and exciting patterns are crucial to us all. Working world wide across the fashion and home furnishing markets the design team are motivated by the diversity of their client’s demands.
As a print maven it cheers me no end to work with a studio that understands separations and has the wider experience essential to understand production processes. The advantages of digital print are phenomenal yet there are many other print processes and between us we can work to satisfy all our client’s expectations.
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